Editing Geography of Tuvalu (section)

==Trees and shrubs==

===Most common trees===
Thaman (2016) described about 362 species or distinct varieties of vascular plants that have been recorded at some time on Tuvalu, of which only about 59 (16%) are possibly indigenous.<ref name="RT2016">{{cite journal |author= Thaman, Randolph|date= October 2016 |title= The Flora of Tuvalu: Lakau Mo Mouku o Tuvalu|journal= Atoll Research Bulletin | issue=611 |pages= xii-129 |doi=10.5479/si.0077-5630.611|s2cid= 89181901 |doi-access= free }}</ref> The most common trees found on all islands are [[coconut]] (''Cocos nucifera'') stands, [[hibiscus]] (''Hibiscus tiliaceus''), [[papaya]] (''Carica papaya''), [[pandanus]] (''Pandanus tectorius''), salt bush (''[[Scaevola taccada]]''), ''[[Premna serratifolia]]'', ''[[Tournefortia]] samoensis'', zebra wood (''[[Guettarda speciosa]]''), Kanava (''[[Cordia subcordata]]''), (beach cordia) and terminalia (''[[Terminalia (plant)|Terminalia]] samoensis''). Indigenous broadleaf species, including Fetau (''[[Calophyllum inophyllum]]''), make up single trees or small stands around the coastal margin.<ref name="TCAP-F53">{{cite report|last= FCG ANZDEC Ltd |title = Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Funafuti |date= 7 October 2020 |publisher= The Pacific Community |pages=53|chapter= |url= https://www.adaptation-undp.org/Tuvalu-Coastal-Adaptation-Project-TCAP-ESIA-Funafuti |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref> While [[Coconut]] palms are common in Tuvalu, they are usually cultivated rather than naturally seeding and growing. Tuvaluan traditional histories are that the first settlers of the islands planted [[Coconut]] palms as they were not found on the islands.

The two recorded mangrove species in Tuvalu are the common Togo (''[[Rhizophora stylosa]]'') and the red-flowered mangrove Sagale (''[[Lumnitzera|Lumnitzera littorea]]''), which is only reported on Nanumaga, Niutao, Nui and Vaitupu. Mangrove ecosystems are protected under Tuvaluan law.<ref name="TCAP-NN66">{{cite report|last= FCG ANZDEC Ltd |title = Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project: Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - Nanumaga and Nanumea |date= 7 August 2020 |publisher= The Pacific Community |pages=66|chapter= |url= https://www.adaptation-undp.org/Tuvalu-Coastal-Adaptation-Project-TCAP-ESIA-Nanumaga-Nanumea |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>

The land cover types found on Funafuti include inland [[forest|broadleaf forest]] and woodland, coastal [[Littoral zone|littoral]] forest and scrub, [[Mangrove forest|mangroves]] and wetlands, and coconut woodland and agroforest.<ref name="CBD5"/>

===Native broadleaf forest===
[[File:Beach of Nanumea Atoll.jpg|thumb|upright|200px|''[[Scaevola taccada]]'' and ''[[Guettarda speciosa]]'' grow near the beach on Nanumea Atoll]]
[[File:Fualifeke Islet, Funafuti Atoll.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Fualefeke]] Islet]]

The native broadleaf forest is limited to 4.1% of the vegetation types on the islands of Tuvalu.<ref name="RBA">{{cite web|author= Randy Thaman, Feagaiga Penivao, Faoliu Teakau, Semese Alefaio, Lamese Saamu, Moe Saitala, Mataio Tekinene and Mile Fonua| work= Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Conservation Status of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) In Tuvalu|title= Report on the 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-To-Reef (R2R) |date = 2017|url= https://www.sprep.org/attachments/VirLib/Tuvalu/r2r-biorap.pdf| access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> The islets of the [[Funafuti Conservation Area]] have 40% of the remaining native broadleaf forest on [[Funafuti]] atoll. The native broadleaf forest of Funafuti would include the following species, that were described by [[Charles Hedley]] in 1896,<ref name="CHF">{{cite book|last1= Hedley|first1= Charles|title= General account of the Atoll of Funafuti|url= http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Journals/16686/487_complete.pdf|year= 1896|publisher= Australian Museum Memoir 3(2): 1–72|pages= 30–40|access-date= 29 September 2013|archive-date= 15 October 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131015112253/http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Journals/16686/487_complete.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref> which include the Tuvaluan name (some of which may follow [[Samoan plant names]]):

* ''Fala'' or Screw Pine, (''[[Pandanus]]'')
* ''Puka'' or ''pouka'', (''[[Hernandia]] peltata'')
* ''Futu'', (''[[Barringtonia asiatica]]'')
* ''Fetau'', (''[[Calophyllum inophyllum]]'')
* ''Ferra'', (''[[Ficus]] aspem''), native fig 
* ''Fau'' or ''Fo fafini'', or woman's fibre tree (''[[Hibiscus tiliaceus]]'')
* ''Lakoumonong'', (''[[Wedelia]] strigulosa'')
* ''Lou'', (''[[Cardamine]] sarmentosa'')
* ''Meili'', (''[[Polypodium]]''), fern 
* ''Laukatafa'', ''[[Asplenium nidus]]'', bird's-nest fern
* ''Milo'' or ''miro'', (''[[Thespesia populnea]]'')
* ''Ngashu'' or ''Naupaka'', (''[[Scaevola taccada]]'')
* ''Ngia'' or ''Ingia'', (''[[Pemphis]] acidula''), bush
* ''Nonou'' or ''nonu'', (''[[Morinda citrifolia]]'')
* ''Pukavai'', ([[Pisonia grandis]]) 
* ''Sageta'', (''[[Dioclea (plant)|Dioclea]] violacea''), vine
* ''Talla talla gemoa'', (''[[Psilotum]] triquetrum''), fern
* ''Tausunu'' or ''tausoun'', (''[[Heliotropium foertherianum]]'')
* ''Tonga'' or ''tongo'', (''[[Rhizophora mucronata]]''), found around swamps
* ''Tulla tulla'', (''[[Triumfetta]] procumbens''), whose prostrate stems trailed for several feet over the ground
* ''Valla valla'', (''[[Premna tahitensis]]'')
The blossoms that are valued for their scent and for use in flower necklaces and headdresses include: ''Fetau'', (''[[Calophyllum inophyllum]]''); ''Jiali'', (''[[Gardenia taitensis]]''); ''Boua'' (''[[Guettarda speciosa]]''); and ''[[Crinum]]''.<ref name="CHF"/>

[[Donald Gilbert Kennedy]], the resident District Officer in the administration of the [[Gilbert and Ellice Islands]] Colony from 1932 to 1938, identified other trees found in the broadleaf forest:<ref name="K1931">{{cite book|last1= Kennedy|first1= Donald|title= The Ellice Islands Canoe Journal of the Polynesian Society Memoir no. 9|url= http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document//Memoirs_%28Additional%29/No._9%3A_Field_Notes_on_the_Culture_of_Vaitupu%2C_Ellice_Islands%2C_by_D._G._Kennedy/The_Ellice_Islands_Canoe%2C_p_71-100/p1|year= 1931|publisher= Journal of the Polynesian Society|pages= 71–100|access-date= 13 April 2019|archive-date= 6 October 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221006034408/https://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Memoirs_%28Additional%29/No._9%3A_Field_Notes_on_the_Culture_of_Vaitupu%2C_Ellice_Islands%2C_by_D._G._Kennedy/The_Ellice_Islands_Canoe%2C_p_71-100/p1|url-status= dead}}</ref>

* ''Pua'', ([[Guettarda speciosa]]) 
* ''Kanava'', ([[Cordia subcordata]])

Charles Hedley (1896) identified the uses of plants and trees from the native broadleaf forest as including:<ref name="CHF1">{{cite book|last1= Hedley|first1= Charles|title= General account of the Atoll of Funafuti|url= http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Journals/16686/487_complete.pdf|year= 1896|publisher= Australian Museum Memoir 3(2): 1–72|pages= 40–41|access-date= 29 September 2013|archive-date= 15 October 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131015112253/http://australianmuseum.net.au/Uploads/Journals/16686/487_complete.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref>
 
* '''Food plants''': [[Coconut]]; and ''Ferra'', native fig (''[[Ficus]] aspem'').<ref name="CHF1"/>
* '''Fibre''':  [[Coconut]]; ''Ferra''; ''Fala'', Screw Pine, ''[[Pandanus]]''; ''Fau'' or ''Fo fafini'', or woman's fibre tree (''[[Hibiscus tiliaceus]]'').<ref name="CHF1"/>
* '''Timber''': ''Fau'' or ''Fo fafini''; ''Pouka'', (''[[Hernandia]] peltata''); ''Ngia'' or ''Ingia'', (''[[Pemphis]] acidula''); ''Miro'', (''[[Thespesia populnea]]''); and ''Tonga'', (''[[Rhizophora mucronata]]'').<ref name="CHF1"/>
* '''Dye''': ''Valla valla'', (''[[Premna tahitensis]]''); ''Tonga'', (''[[Rhizophora mucronata]]''); and ''Nonou'', (''[[Morinda citrifolia]]'').<ref name="CHF1"/>
* '''Scent''': ''Fetau'', (''[[Calophyllum inophyllum]]''); ''Jiali'', (''[[Gardenia taitensis]]''); and ''Boua'' (''[[Guettarda speciosa]]''); ''Valla valla'', (''[[Premna tahitensis]]''); and [[Crinum]].<ref name="CHF1"/>
* '''Medicinal''': ''Tulla tulla'', (''[[Triumfetta]] procumbens''); ''Nonou'', (''[[Morinda citrifolia]]''); ''Tausoun'', (''[[Heliotropium foertherianum]]''); ''Valla valla'', (''[[Premna tahitensis]]''); ''Talla talla gemoa'' (''[[Psilotum]] triquetrum''); ''Lou'', (''[[Cardamine]] sarmentosa''); and ''Lakoumonong'', (''[[Wedelia]] strigulosa'').<ref name="CHF1"/>

Thaman (1992) provides a literature review of the ethnobiology of the Pacific Islands.<ref name="Thaman">{{cite journal| last = Thaman | first =R.R. |title= Batiri Kei Baravi: The Ethnobotany of Pacific Island Coastal Plants |journal= Atoll Research Bulletin |issue=361 |publisher=National Museum of Natural History, [[Smithsonian Institution]]|date = May 1992| volume =361 | pages =1–62 | doi =10.5479/si.00775630.361.1 |url= http://repository.si.edu/bitstream/10088/5070/1/00361.pdf| access-date=8 February 2014}}</ref>